Chapter no.3 Desperation

The water droplets flowed along the curved side of the concrete wall, as if they were in a dance with each other, moving in perfect harmony. It was a small amount, but it was the water of life that kept me alive. My tongue was dry and swollen, and I could feel the desert-like heat that had overtaken my body. I was desperate for something to quench my thirst, and as I saw the droplets, my mind raced with the possibilities of what I could do to get to them.

I frantically licked the wall, desperate to quench my thirst. As the water entered my parched body, my hunger dissipated, or perhaps it was my mind tricking me into thinking I was no longer hungry. The water was cool and refreshing, and it seemed to revive my entire being. I leaned my back against the wall and let out a sigh as the water replenished my dried-up muscles. I slowly moved my arms and legs, feeling the strength return to my body. The joints in my limbs began to loosen and I felt my muscles getting stronger, or perhaps it was all just an illusion my mind had created to keep me from losing hope.

My clothes were tattered and torn, hanging off my emaciated frame. I had been trapped in this place for what felt like an eternity, with no hope of escape. The darkness that surrounded me was suffocating, and the silence was deafening. The only sound I could hear was the sound of my own heartbeat, which seemed to be getting louder and louder with each passing moment.

As I regained enough strength, I tried to stand up. "Come on!" I grunted through gritted teeth, the veins on my forehead bulging with effort. Simply crawling on the floor and getting up with strength in both legs required a different level of strength and concentration of mind. It was a painful challenge for someone who had been lying on the floor for a long time with my entire body paralyzed.

The fear of dying made me endure the pain and gave strength to my legs. Both of them trembled in a cold sweat that flowed down like a waterfall from my body. All the water I had drank a while ago seemed to have been drained out as sweat. "Turn the damn waterworks off!" I growled through clenched teeth, inhaling deeply. My body shook as if I was about to fall soon, but I managed to hold on to my center of gravity. I eventually stood up on my own two legs. To think, this would be an accomplishment in my mind. "Hoo!" The breath that had been suppressed came out as I wheezed when I stood holding my thighs with both of my hands. I couldn't confirm it because I couldn't see it, but I thought that hot steam would exude from my body. That's how hot my body was.

"Hehehe," I chuckled at my own joke as I breathed in and out, waiting for the heat to subside. But there was no relief in sight. The darkness was still there, enveloping me like a thick, suffocating blanket. It was as if I was trapped in the physical embodiment of crippling depression. I couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards the animals that were able to see in the dark. I had given up on trying to see with my eyes, as if by some miracle, I would suddenly gain the ability to see in the dark.

As my outstretched fingers grazed against the concrete wall, I felt a small, firm object nestled within the cracks. Curiosity peaked, I plucked it out, and in that instant, a peculiar sensation overcame me. The object, a mushroom, began to illuminate with an eerie glow that seemed to radiate throughout the room. The light was so intense, it felt as though needles were piercing through my eyes, causing my head to throb with excruciating pain. Despite the agony, I couldn't resist the urge to look at the mysterious light source.

The brightness was so blinding, I had to shut my eyes tightly, tears streaming down my face as I tried to bear the searing pain. However, even with my eyes squeezed shut, the light was still so intense that it seemed to fill every nook and cranny of the room, casting a soft, ethereal glow on everything in its path.

I couldn't help but be drawn to the vibrant green moss covering the walls. It appeared almost alive, wriggling and squirming as if it was trying to consume the very walls themselves. I pushed my way through the moss, and as I did, I discovered something incredible. Hidden beneath the moss, ancient murals and texts were etched into the stone, obscured by centuries of growth. The murals depicted scenes of a long-forgotten civilization, with images of people and creatures that seemed otherworldly. The texts were written in a language that was entirely unfamiliar to me, something not of this world.

The mushrooms that grew out of the moss were a deep purple color, and the light that they emitted seemed to dance and flicker, casting shadows on the walls that twisted and turned. I couldn't see anything except for the light, and the pain was so overwhelming that it had me feeling disoriented and dizzy. My head was spinning as I stumbled backward, and the ringing in my ears was deafening.

Despite the intensity of the light and the pain it caused, I refused to let go of the mushroom in my hand. I felt an unexplainable connection to it, and I couldn't bear to part with it. The pain and the light continued for what felt like an eternity, until finally, it started to fade. The light dimmed, and the pain subsided, leaving me feeling drained and exhausted. I slowly opened my eyes, and looked at the mushroom in my hand. It was still glowing, but now it was a soft, gentle light that was easy on the eyes.

As I stared at the mysterious mushroom, I couldn't help but wonder about the civilization that had etched those ancient murals into the stone walls. What had they seen, what had they known, that we were yet to discover? The answers to those questions remained a mystery, but one thing was for certain. There was something in that room, something powerful, something beyond his comprehension.

.....

I felt my body trembling, and my mind was a mess. I didn't know what had just happened, but I knew that I had to get out of this place. I turned and ran, not looking back until I was far away from the light and the pain.

I couldn't tell what color the mushroom was, nor could I tell what kind it was. Some mushrooms were edible, but some can cause serious health problems. It could have been poisonous, or it could have harbored a disease. I couldn't tell even if I had my eyes, but now the only information I could get was from the sense of my fingertips. I felt a twisting pain in my stomach, the hunger that I had forgotten for a while suddenly came back. Drinking water was nothing more than a temporary measure. I had to eat something.

My fingertips alone wouldn't be enough to tell if the mushroom was edible. Still, the fact that I was holding moss in my hand made my mouth salivate. I placed the mushroom down, and touched the walls.

"Don't eat it, it could be poisonous," I whispered to myself, trying to hold on to the last shreds of sanity. But my hunger overpowered the sane part of my mind. Now was the time to eat something, I didn't care if it was poison, I didn't care if this would be my last meal. I just wanted to eat.

I took the mushroom, and shoved it into my mouth. An indescribable, hellish taste attacked my tongue. The taste was so terrible that I gagged and almost threw up. But I didn't want to waste this "food" even if it was poisonous. I forced myself to hold on, not wanting to sit down in my current state, knowing it would be impossible to get up again. Water dripped from my eyes and nose as I struggled to swallow the moss. It was a terrible, bitter taste, but it was something.

The taste of the mushrooms was like a hellish inferno in my mouth, but fortunately, I didn't feel any abnormalities in other parts, or maybe the poison would act up after a few minutes. At this point, I wished the poison would put me out of my misery. After a few minutes, I didn't feel any other irregularities except that my taste buds were numb. It meant the mushrooms were edible. Damn it, and here I was hoping that I would get the sweet release of death.

I hastily scraped the mushrooms which for some reason didn't glow and brought them to my numb mouth. I no longer felt the taste of hell. It was painful nonetheless, but once I got used to it, it was tolerable. Deaddeck! I randomly scraped the wall and collected mushrooms. Some of which glew while others didn't.

When it is collected to a certain extent, I put it in my mouth and repeated the act.

'I can live. I can live somehow.'

Chewing the mushrooms, I murmured to myself. Great, looks like I had finally lost it.

My tongue was almost paralyzed, and my voice never came out of my mouth, but my spirits were firm like a teenager's desire to procreate. As I chewed on the mushrooms, a desire began to emerge in my heart. I had to survive and get revenge on the man who imprisoned me here, and if I couldn't do that, then at the very least, I would find out the reason why I had been imprisoned there.

I didn't know how much of the mushrooms had been scraped off. There was no feeling of satiety. Still, the hunger went away to some extent. My tongue continued to tingle as the numbing feeling wore off a little. I caressed the area around my mouth with my hand. Fortunately, after some time, the sensation of my tongue returned to normal.

I thought I was lucky or maybe fate had other plans for me and kept me alive... yeah, right. I made a gamble that risked my life. I don't know how big the space I was trapped in was, but there were a lot of mushrooms on the wall, so I would be able to hang on to my life for the time being. Of course, I would have to endure that hellish taste every time.

I didn't know why but I felt a wave of relaxation hit me like a ton of bricks while I savoured the hellish taste in my mouth.

My body felt light and tingly, and the darkness in the room began to shift and dance as if it had come alive. As I looked around, the walls seemed to move and warp in impossible ways, and the wall in the prison began to take on new and surreal forms.

At first, the experience was exciting and almost euphoric. The world around me seemed to come alive with vibrant colors and swirling patterns, and every sound and sensation felt amplified to an almost overwhelming degree. I could feel my heart racing, and my mind felt like it was exploding with new ideas and sensations.

But then things started to take a turn. The colors became more intense, and the patterns began to twist and contort in disturbing ways.

I could see sound and taste the abyss.

The room felt like it was closing in on me, and every sound became a deafening roar in my ears.

I tried to focus on my breathing and remind myself that it was just a hallucination, but the feeling of terror and panic only continued to escalate. I felt like I was losing my grip on reality, and that the world around me was collapsing in on itself.

My thoughts became disjointed and chaotic, and it felt like time was moving at a different pace than the rest of the world. I couldn't tell if it had been minutes or hours since the trip had begun, and I couldn't find a way to ground myself in the present moment.

As the intensity of the trip reached its peak, I felt like I was being pulled into a vortex of darkness and chaos. Every sensation felt like it was too much to handle, and I couldn't find a way to escape the overwhelming flood of emotions and sensations.

...

The boy stood motionless as his mind was high from the Darkling Deathcap Mushroom as a strange and intense heat emanated from deep within his body. An ethereal aura of iridescent light began to radiate from the biy's skin, casting a surreal and otherworldly glow around them. The aura grew stronger, and the body of the boy began to vibrating as if the very soul was being ripped apart by the spiritual Qi of the Darkling Deathcap.

As a strange and eldritch mirroring of the emaciated boy appeared above him. The strange apparition seemed to be made of pure light and shimmered like a reflection on an infinite pool of abyssal waters. The spectral duplicate floated in the air, as if suspended by an unseen force, its countenance beyond human comprehension.

Suddenly, the strange and eldritch duplicate began to move, as if it had a life of its own. It floated downward, approaching the boy with a sinister grace. As it neared the character, it touched their forehead, and in an instant, a surge of spiritual Qi course through the inebriated boy.

The aura around him began to dissipate, the light fading back into the boy's skin like a receding tide. And with a final burst of transcendent power, the mirroring figure vanished into the emaciated boy's body, leaving behind only a sense of profound and unsettling awe.

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[ Author Note : Darkling Deathcape Mushroom ]

The Darkling Deathcap Mushroom is a rare and dangerous fungus found in the deepest and darkest corners where man has dyed the ground with their blood and the air rotted by the departure of souls. The mushroom emits a soft glow that illuminates its surroundings when plucked, but the light is not constant. Instead, the Darkling Deathcap releases orbs of light that shine brightly for a few seconds before fading away, as if the mushroom is communicating through its glow.

However, this mushroom is not to be taken lightly. If consumed, it can have disastrous effects on the mind and body. The Darkling Deathcap has the ability to create an alternative personality within the individual who eats it. This alternate personality is dark and malevolent, seeking to break the individual's mind and take over their body. Over time, if consumed repeatedly, this alternate personality gains strength and forms its own ego, trying to assert dominance over the individual's true self.

The effects of the Darkling Deathcap are unpredictable and often irreversible. Those who have encountered this mushroom warn of its dangers and advise others to avoid it at all costs. However, some cultivators seek out the Darkling Deathcap, hoping to harness its power or learn its secrets. They do so at their own peril, for the mushroom is not easily tamed, and its effects can be deadly.

In summary, the Darkling Deathcap Mushroom is a rare and dangerous fungus found in places where mass death has occurred that emits a soft glow and releases orbs of light. However, if consumed, it can create an alternate personality within the individual, seeking to take over their mind and body.

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